Category: Reviews

A Whole Buncha Lunches

It’s not news that ELV eats out more than anyone in Las Vegas.

No brag, just fact.

In fact, so often are we in restaurants it’s hard for us to keep up with ourselves in posting about them.

So we’ll just combine a whole buncha recent lunches into a single post with some brief commentary about each…

We were hankerin’ for a hamburger the other day, and couldn’t get in to Stripburger, so we moseyed on down to Society in Encore: [nggallery id=707]

where we ordered up a few plates of gourmet bar food that pretty much sets the standard for chicken wings (with a killer blue cheese dressing), pigs in blankets (with housemade ketchup), and a burger that was just the right size (not too big or too small), finely ground, blood rare, juicy, and gooooood.

And those addictive pretzels are nothing to shake a stick at either.

Then, as is our wont, we needed some Asian infusion, so we checked out Wendy’s Noodle Cafe: [nggallery id=706]

on Jones near Spring Mountain (in a former Taco Bell). Yes, there is a god…and she has quite the sense of humor. Truth be told, we’ve been twice now, and in spite of the new decor, friendly staff, soft prices and easy-to-navigate menu, we find the food to be run of the mill. Not that bad, mind you, just not that good either. But the price is right, and that bland-looking egg custard dish (above) was a soft, barely set, silky smooth, and eggy delight.

The next day we were hungry (imagine that?) so we remembered our promise to Bobby Flay to give his restaurant a second look. So off we went to Mesa Grill: [nggallery id=709] with Sarah “The Feldbergian” Feldberg to check out the vittles. True to our word, we approached our meal with an open mind. “What’s the thing we’d probably like the least,” was our thought as we perused the menu. “The mahi mahi….Yes!” we thought to ourselves. “We know we’re gonna hate it…so let’s see what the Flay-ster’s crew can do…”  It may sound counter-intuitive, but setting yourself up for disappointment is sometimes the best way to give a kitchen a fair shake. We do it with beet dishes all the time.

And you know what? The grilled fish was perfect, beautifully composed, and accented to a fare thee well with roasted pineapple-cascabel chile sauce, and a pineapple-green onion salsa. Everything was in balance, nothing overwhelmed the fish, but each flavor came through loud and clear.

The Feldbergian pronounced herself only moderately satisfied with her chicken tacos, but we told her that was her fault for ordering something she thought she was going to like.

Spicy had seduced our receptacles, so we sashayed speedily to Border Grill: [nggallery id=708]

at the next noon hour to see what satisfying sustenance those soothsayers of Serranos — Chef Mike Minor and the Two Hot Tamales — were sowing.

Bold flavors have never been a problem here (unlike some awfully bland stuff we’ve been served at Mesa Grill), and that old reliable, the Baja ceviche, is always good to recalibrate the palate. Bright, fishy (in a good way), acidic and spicy, it may be the best pick me up out there, and was followed by a shredded chicken salad that was a peppery delight in its own right, and our old standby, the cochinita pibil — achiote pork roasted in a banana leaf with red rice, black beans and a plantain orange salsa. About the only thing we don’t like about the Border Grill is that it isn’t closer to our house.

From there it was back into the breach one more time, for one more lunch at Mesa Grill:  [nggallery id=710]

before we tackle it for dinner. Like we said: We promised Boy-Meets-Grill-Bobby we’d give it a fair shot before hanging another formal review on it, and so we will.

This lunch (with The Frugal Foodie) had its ups and downs, and we can’t say we were all that thrilled with our sorta dry Cuban sandwich, or her unwieldy salad, but the steak tartare brought some serious Southwestern heat (even if it was a bit cold — indicating pre-made and time spent in the fridge), and the coconut cake was moist, plenty coconutty, and delish. Aside from the headache they gave ELV, there’s no faulting the drinks here either.

SOCIETY  at Encore

3121 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.770.7000

WENDY’S NOODLE CAFE

3401 South Jones Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702.889.3288

MESA GRILL

In Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino

3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

877.346.4642

http://www.mesagrill.com/lasvegas/

BORDER GRILL

In the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

3590 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89119

702.632.7403

www.bordergrill.com

Blogspotting: The Frugal Foodie and Tasting Las Vegas

The words frugal and John Curtas have never, ever collided in the same sentence.

Just ask his his colleagues, his sons (still chafing at what will be their pitifully small inheritance), his ex-wives, his accountant and the IRS.

So he usually cedes the reporting on lower-end joints (unless they’re Asian joints) to others.

And that’s where The Frugal Foodie comes in. The Frug is a blog by a little gal (Jillian Plaster) with a big appetite. She trained as a chef so her reviews tend towards the food-and-recipe-specific, and sometimes she’s tougher to please than ELV with a hangover. But she has some serious food chops, and covers a lot of ground — including places that Eating Las Vegas wouldn’t be caught dead in — so give her a look.

Mike Dobranski’s Tasting Las Vegas puts forth a steady stream dining posts that are always  fun, if sometimes a bit logorrheic (The Frugal Foodie suffers from this as well). He is clearly a worshiper of great chefs and good food, has quite the sense of humor and more opinions than Glenn Beck Keith Olbermann.

Are they the next generation of food writers in Las Vegas? Too early to tell, but if you’re looking for thoughtful opinion on our restaurant scene, check them out.

THE FLAME Shines Brightly at the El Cortez

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Walk around the El Cortez hotel these days, and you will witness the changing face of Downtown Las Vegas. This old-timer has spent real money upgrading its facilities to appeal to the party-as-a-verb crowd. At the same time, it maintains an old-Vegas (in a good way) vibe that keeps the coupon-clippers happy. Through it all, its main restaurant (now The Flame, formerly Roberta’s) keeps a foot in both worlds and hardly ever stumbles—at least when it comes to what’s on the plate.

Before you confront your meal, you will first have to deal with the room. Dull beyond words, it is well-lit (some would say too well), and comfortable in a generic, franchised-coffee-shop sort of way. The sole design elements are provided by hi-def flatscreens showing fabulous, color-saturated travel videos of Italy. We’re not sure management intended this effect, but the views are so sparkling and seductive, they make you wish you were anywhere but the El Cortez when you’re watching them.

Restaurant Guide

The Flame
Inside the El Cortez, 600 Fremont St., 385-5200.
Recommended dishes: stone crab claws, $28/pound; fresh oysters, $10.50/6; French onion soup, $5; crab cakes, $11; steak Diane, $24; Walleyed pike, $18.
Recently Reviewed
Top of the World (5/5/10)

Even if you’re not on the Amalfi Coast, the food is good enough to draw some of your attention. When they’re in season, which doesn’t begin again until October 15, Florida stone crabs are the appetizer to get. They are only flown in for Friday and Saturday nights, are run as a special and are always fresh.

For the next four and a half months, though, you will have to settle for fresh, sparkling Kumamoto oysters with a textbook mignonette, blue-crab cakes nicely studded with chunky lump meat accompanied by a decent remoulade, and littleneck clams steamed in chardonnay. Skip the baby-backs unless you like pork ribs for dessert.

They serve mealy tomatoes out of season here (about the only hangover from the El Cortez’s cheap eats days), but otherwise the salads are acceptable, though not exceptional. The “garbage salad” comes nicely dressed with a light lemon vinaigrette, and the iceberg wedge is a blue-cheese-lover’s delight.

The issue with restaurants in small hotels is they have to be all things to all people. Dinner-only places (when you’re the only dinner-only joint in the joint) don’t have the luxury of niche marketing to seafood faddists, local locavores or meat fetishists. Instead, expect to see chicken, meat and fish in all their familiar guises. What distinguishes the Flame is its careful cooking of these primary tourist staples, the aforementioned stone crabs and, drum roll please … the wall-eyed pike. As any upper-Midwesterner will tell you, this is pretty much the king of freshwater fish. Its dense, sweet flesh makes it perfect for grilling or deep-frying, both of which are done to a turn here. At $18, it is the biggest bargain on the menu, and also the best.

Not as successful is the untrussed roasted chicken—served with legs splayed and slightly dry for that reason—but the lamb chops, double-cut pork chops and steaks will more than satisfy a carnivore’s craving—at prices $14-$20 less than you’ll pay three miles south. If gussied-up beef is what befits you, the steak Diane—sliced tenderloin in a cognac mustard-cream sauce—is steak sauced the old-school way, and again, a steal at $24. Speaking of sauces, another indication this place has upgraded itself are the six house-made sauces, ranging from green peppercorn to Marsala to a quite respectable béarnaise.

Desserts are unmemorable, but you won’t forget the wine list—mainly because it’s short and priced to sell. A William Fevre Chablis ($35) fits nicely with the fish, and the most expensive red, Clos du Bois Marlstone, tops out at $55.

Priced-to-sell pretty much sums up the Flame. The only surprises on the menu are pleasant ones, and in this price range, it pretty much sets the standard for quality comestibles. All the restaurant needs now is a décor to complement the food and give it some personality, something the hotel has had since 1941, and seems to be getting more of daily.